The Brady Bunch

Bill Belichick put Tom Brady into the lineup by necessity, but in a move both risky and brilliant he kept him as the starter by choice

By Jeffri Chadiha

Issue date: February 13, 2002

Free agent David Patten had it all figured out when he signed with the New England Patriots last April. He would build a strong relationship with quarterback Drew Bledsoe, and perhaps more passes would come his way. Getting in tight with the team leader, Patten figured, was the best way for a new receiver to operate. As Patten schmoozed with Bledsoe through minicamps and training camp and into the preseason, however, he kept noticing Tom Brady, a lanky second-year reserve quarterback who swaggered around the locker room.

Brady would sit in the weight room and instruct teammates on pass-route adjustments or the best ways to detect a flaw in a defense. During minicamps he controlled the huddle as if he were running a game-winning drive. "Tom carried himself like this was his team," Patten says. "I thought, If he's this confident as a backup, I can only imagine how he'd be running the show."

Now we know. When Bledsoe left the lineup after shearing a blood vessel in his chest during a 10-3 loss to the New York Jets on Sept. 23, Brady stepped in to become the surprise of the NFL. He finished the regular season with an 11-3 record as a starter, completed nearly 64% of his passes, earned a spot in the Pro Bowl and, of course, was the MVP in the Patriots' improbable Super Bowl victory. Yet, as his perpetually detached attitude suggests, success has not turned his head.

Brady, 24, grew up in San Mateo, Calif., where he admired how San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young made the game look easy. Brady operates with a similarly cool approach, a natural feel for the game and how to maneuver in the spotlight. "People talk about how we've got the ball rolling lately, but you can never buy into the hype," says Brady. "It's easy to believe everything that's being said about me, but I'm mature enough to know I'm not the only reason we're playing well."

True, an improved running game and a reconstructed offensive line helped him, but it was Brady who was the big difference in New England's overcoming an 0-2 start. So meticulous is Brady in his game preparation that he advised Bledsoe, a nine-year veteran and three-time Pro Bowl selection, on strategy during preseason games. Brady also doesn't rattle when blitzed, makes smart decisions and calls plays with a pronounced authority. "Some guys just say the play," says Pats running back J.R. Redmond. "He makes you think we're about to do something big."

Brady has even been impressive in defeat. "Every time he got to the line against us, he was looking over the defense and calling audibles," said Denver Broncos linebacker John Mobley after a 31-20 victory over New England on Oct. 28. "He was very much in command."

That loss to Denver, in his fifth start, was a critical juncture for Brady. He played well before throwing four fourth-quarter interceptions, mistakes that could have sent him into a funk. Instead, he rebounded with a 250-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 24-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons the next week. "Inexperienced quarterbacks need to show they can deal with the highs and lows of this league," says New England offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. "The jury is still out until you face adversity, and Tom proved he can deal with it."

Brady is well versed in dealing with disappointment. Upon arriving at Michigan, in 1995, and redshirting, he sat behind Scott Dreisbach and Brian Griese for two seasons before becoming the starter as a junior. Although he set school records for attempts (350) and completions (214) in '98, threw 20 touchdown passes as a senior and finished his career with a 20-5 record as a starter, he wound up sharing time his senior year with Drew Henson, the nation's top recruit, and plummeted to the sixth round and the 199th pick of the 2000 draft. "The big question scouts had on him was why [Michigan] would try to play a freshman over him," says Buffalo Bills general manager Tom Donahoe. "That had everybody concerned."

"When I went in the sixth round, it wasn't anything new," Brady says. "My whole college career had been about competition. Coming in here, I needed to just slug it out."

His new Patriots teammates gave him grief about his frail 6'4", 204-pound frame, with center Damien Woody offering him extra food after practice. Brady's deficient lower-body strength affected his delivery -- he usually had to wind up to throw go routes and deep outs -- and he wasn't especially mobile. The coaches liked his instincts, poise and leadership, though, so they kept him on as the fourth-string quarterback behind Bledsoe, Michael Bishop and John Friesz.

Brady, often on the inactive list, hit the weight room hard. By the end of the 2000 season the velocity on his throws had improved enough that some receivers complained that he was putting too much zing on the ball. Brady, who now weighs 220 pounds, also badgered Friesz, a 10-year veteran, for insights on the offense. This year "he's been asking questions in meetings you normally wouldn't attribute to a second-year guy," Bledsoe says. "Instead of wondering who his second receiver on a play was, he wanted to know about reading the defense or where to put the ball when he saw a specific coverage."

"Even at the end of last year I felt like a stronger player," says Brady. "I could make throws that I couldn't make before. I was more elusive. Plus, I didn't feel I had to prove anything to myself anymore." Or to anyone else. Brady moved to No. 2 on the depth chart after winning a training-camp battle with Damon Huard, who had been a backup for the Miami Dolphins in 2000. (Friesz had been released during the off-season, and Bishop was waived during camp.)

Then came Bledsoe's injury in the second week of the season. Brady recalls the September day when he walked into Bledsoe's hospital room, gazed at his immobilized friend and had no idea what to say. During the next several months, however, as Brady went on to enjoy the success that would relegate Bledsoe to the bench even after doctors had cleared him to play, Bledsoe knew exactly what to say to his young replacement: nothing. "For our team, the right thing to do was step back and be supportive of Tom," Bledsoe said five days before the Super Bowl. "It wasn't easy. It wasn't my first inclination. But ultimately I knew it was the right thing to do."

That was a crucial decision, say Bledsoe's teammates. "Drew could have made a decision that divided the locker room," says linebacker Tedy Bruschi. "He could have done it through the media. He could have done it through the owner or through certain veteran players. He had all the avenues available to him."

For all the respect Bledsoe earned from his teammates in the wake of his demotion, Brady, too, did an admirable job of handling the delicate situation. Throughout the season he continued to seek Bledsoe's counsel, and when he was sidelined with an ankle sprain in the AFC Championship Game, Brady delivered the loudest cheers as Bledsoe guided New England to a 24-17 victory over Pittsburgh. "Tom and I have an outstanding relationship," says Bledsoe.

Even so, an uncertain future faces Bledsoe, who received a 10-year, $103 million extension last March but has won only seven of his last 26 starts. Though he remains confident that he'll be the Patriots' starter for years to come, the cost of waiving or trading Bledsoe in the off-season (a cap hit of $6.8 million) doesn't differ much from the price of keeping him on the roster for 2002 ($6.2 million). New England could be as much as $12 million under next year's cap and will surely keep that in mind if Brady continues to excel.

For his part Brady dismisses any talk of a quarterback controversy. "I'm still only a second-year player," he says. "People can talk about a quarterback controversy, but one thing I learned in college is that the coach decides who plays, and when he says to go in there, you play your butt off. That's all I've been trying to do."

Issue date: February 13, 2002